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The deadline of the contest Audrey had entered had finally passed and now she was just waiting for the call telling her that she made it to the top five or she didn’t make the cut and she should try again in the fall. Sometimes she would sit on her bed and stare at her cell phone. If she didn’t make it, she just wanted to know now. This waiting was just too much for her. She wasn’t going to tell her parents unless she made it to the top five. She’d rather wait until she actually won but her parents would probably want to go and see her actually win. She already told Jade and Maya that they could go. She just wished these judges would hurry up and tell her yes or no. The waiting was the worst part of all of this.

“Well give them time,” Tom said. The two of them were eating lunch in his classroom, “The deadline only ended a few days ago. And a lot of students entered. It’s a lot of entries to go through.”

Tom chuckled and kissed Audrey’s forehead, “I’m almost positive that you made it to the top five. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve already chosen you as the winner. Just try to relax.”

Audrey shrugged as she crumpled up her sandwich bag, “I can try but I can’t help but be nervous. This is huge, ya know? And there’s a chance I won’t get to see you for awhile. That’s still there.”

“We’ll figure it out when we get there,” Tom said with a warm smile, “I won’t let our relationship crumble again.”

He hugged her, squeezing some tears out of her. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket suddenly and they both pushed away, staring at the phone in her hands. Audrey took a deep breath as her trembling finger pressed TALK. She inhaled deeply and held her breath, “Hello?”

Maya called Charlie a few days later while she was on a break at work. She wasn’t sure if he was free since she didn’t really know his teaching schedule. She just remembered Richard was free around this time so she just assumed Charlie would be too.

“Hello?” Charlie said, sounding confused, “Who is this?”

Maya giggled, remembering that she had Charlie’s number but he never asked for her number. He had no idea who she was, “It’s Maya from the coffee shop.”

“It’s fine,” Maya said, “Listen, I’m gonna be getting off work in about an hour. I was thinking about coming to see the campus.”

“I’ll be your guide!” Charlie exclaimed, “The school I teach at really is amazing. I think you’re gonna like it. I think it’s a bit smaller than the school you go to but it’s still just as cool. And maybe we could have dinner afterwards?”

“I’d love to Charlie,” Maya said, “I’ll see you in an hour then.”

Just as Maya promised, she came to Charlie’s school after she got off work. Once Maya was on campus it occurred to her that she never asked where his classroom was and even if she had, she was completely lost. It was like the first day of school all over again. It was getting late and most of the students were leaving but just as many were coming in. The campus wasn’t as crowded as it was at her school but she still found it difficult to walk around without bumping into someone. And this time, she bumped into the exact person she’d been looking for.

“Maya!” Richard stumbled when he bumped into her, almost spilling his coffee. He managed to spill a small drop on his hand which burned like a son of a b***h, “What are you doing? Are you following me?”

“No conceited!” Maya snapped, crossing her arms, “It just so happens that a new friend of mine works here. My world doesn’t revolve around you ya know!”

Richard smirked, “Oh really? And who did you come here to see?”

Maya met his smug gaze and put her hands on her hips, “His name is Charlie.”

“You have got to be kidding me!” Richard yelled, “That guy can’t even hold a cup of coffee without hurting himself!”

“But he’s a smart man,” Maya countered, “Anyone can learn English. It’s not a hard subject. It takes real smarts to understand biology. Charlie could teach me more than you ever could.”

“Oh that’s how you’re gonna play it,” Richard said. Maya nodded and they both stood there aiming daggers at each other. It felt like they were the only two people there just staring at each other challengingly.

“What I do shouldn’t concern you. I’m not your girlfriend anymore,” Maya said as she started walking away.

“Good!” Richard shouted, “And by the way, Charlie’s classroom is the other way!”

Maya stopped, her cheeks turning bright red as she turned around and walked the other way past Richard, ignoring his haughty smirk, “I knew that!”

Jade had eventually gone against Allen’s warning and called David. It had been a few weeks and David had explained that he was just stressed out and he took it out on her. She went back to his apartment to hang out with him. They made some popcorn and went into his room to watch a movie.

“And listen, I’m sorry I haven’t called,” Jade said before David could press PLAY on his remote, “I was meaning to but I got really busy and I hadn’t been able to find the time.”

David frowned a little but it faded quickly and he smiled, “I know. Balancing school and work is tough. That’s why I don’t go to school.”

They continued on in silence. Halfway through the movie, an alarm on David’s phone started going off and he read the alert and got off his bed, “I have to get my laundry. I’ll be right back.”

David grabbed his laundry basket and ran off downstairs to the laundry room. Jade got up off David’s bed to stretch her legs. She started looking at the stuff he displayed on his dresser. It was mostly stuff she’d find if she went to her dad’s. Signed records, a pair of headphones he always used for recording, a few cords and some random pictures. On the floor next to his dresser, Jade found a shoebox that was big enough to fit a pair of boots. She didn’t know what made her get down on her knees to open it. She thought she was just going to find shoes. But she didn’t. She found photographs of herself. There were pictures of her walking into the school, getting into her car and there were pictures of her at work. And underneath all the pictures of just her, she found those pictures of her and Norman that someone had plastered all over campus and there were new photographs she’d never seen before of them just walking around together holding hands. Jade’s hands began to shake and she dropped the pictures back into the box and slammed the lid onto it. She slid away and sat against the bed, staring at it as if it was going to come alive. By the time she’d closed the box and slid away, David came in with his laundry, “What’s going on?”

Jade stood up and grabbed her purse, “I, I have to go. We can finish the movie another time. But I have to leave.”

“Jade what’s wrong?” David reached out to her but she yanked her arm away, “Don’t touch me!”

“I don’t know what I did!” David cried, “What did I do?”

Jade picked up the shoebox and threw it at him. The lid flew off the box and the pictures scattered all over the floor, “This! It was you the whole time! You’re the one who chased me through my school and grabbed me at work and at the mall and you’re the one who took those pictures of Norman and I! It was you!”

David’s face fell and he looked a lot more sinister than he had a few minutes ago, “That’s right. When you said we were breaking up, I noticed you getting all friendly with that Norman guy. So I decided to see what was up. I didn’t know at first that he was a professor at your school but once I did I have to say I was pretty pissed off. I wanted you all to myself.”

“So you terrorized me and humiliated me?!” Jade screamed, “This is sick David! Who does this?!”

“I knew a teacher and a student weren’t allowed to be together,” David said, “I wanted you to feel as bad as me.”

David let Jade get as far as the front door and then put all of his weight on it so she couldn’t open the door, “I can’t let you go again Jade. As much as I did wanna hurt you, I still love you. Why can’t we be together?”

“Because you’re insane!” Jade pulled on the doorknob repeatedly even though she knew he was a lot stronger, “What happened to you? You were fine when we broke up in ninth grade!”

“You think I didn’t go to all this trouble the first time because I didn’t want to?” David laughed, “I did want to. But I had my mother then to prevent me from doing so. But my mother can’t stop me now.”

I actually didn't know where I should end Jade's part so that's why I ended it there hahahaha! Holy crapples what's gonna happennnnnnn?
Updating might be more frequent now since I'm not lightheaded and my eye pain is gone I don't feel so weak and tired anymore SO more updates haha. I'm going to my dad's which always for some reason makes me update more.